A Summoner's Sacrifice
by Nobody's Requiem
Summary: About two hundred and sixty years after Sin first arrived, a young summoner sets out on his own pilgrimage to obtain the Final Aeon. Behind the sacrosanct face of the Temples, though, lurks a madman with his own agenda...
1. Chapter 1

I knelt wearily before the glowing, glass-entombed statue that sat before me. I had come this far, and now I was finally going to do it. I made the motion passed down from before I'd been born; the movement was a prayer, admittance that one was imperfect without Yevon and his teachings. As I leaned forward, touching my forehead to the cool stone in submission, I thought back to all the months before now. I had heard the whispers, even before I'd begun my training; because I was only sixteen, many assumed I wasn't fit to take on the pilgrimage. I understood it... somewhat, at least. Really, anyone had the right to take on a pilgrimage once they had completed preliminary training and been ordained in the name of Yevon, but it wasn't common for someone so young.

About me echoed the Hymn; it rang out in a high, cool soprano that sent tingles through me. It was the voice of the Fayth before me... of Valefor. She had been the Governess of Besaid at the time of Sin's birth. When Yunalesca had come to the island and asked for a Fayth to train new Summoners, Lady Valefor had bravely stepped forward. I remember the day when I was three, and my older sister Lonna offered herself to the cause... to Yevon. She became a Summoner, and was sent off to Zanarkand to attain the Final Aeon. She died on the slopes of Mount Gagazet. Now there I was, the same as she had been, asking for help from a Fayth.

"Mathys..." came the voice of the Fayth. I looked up and saw Lady Valefor. She didn't look like she was any older than she would have been the day she became a Fayth. I stared at her in disbelief and she smiled. "So, you've chosen a Summoner's path? Be warned, the road ahead is barred by many trials, and even greater still is your responsibility to Spira and to Yevon." I nodded; the whole reason I had become a Summoner was to help the people of Spira, just like Lonna.

"I know all of this," I said. "I know it will be... difficult. That does not deter me from my goal." Lady Valefor seemed pleased with this answer.

"Very well," she said. "Go now, into the world of Yevon, and walk proudly with my blessings upon you." With that, she stepped through me and I suddenly felt incredibly weak. I stood shakily and exited the room to see my Guardians, Elaina and Milan, waiting faithfully. Milan caught me about the shoulders as I stumbled.

"Are you alright?" he asked. I smiled and nodded, trying to regain my composure.

"Yes, thank you," I said. Elaina was trying her best not to look worried for me, but it was written in her eyes. The clergy had warned that the first time you received an Aeon from a Fayth, it would be draining. I had not been aware of just how draining it would be... but it was no time for personal weakness.

"She would have been proud," Elaina said. I knew she was right; Lonna was watching me from the Farplane even as we spoke, and I was sure she was smiling. I stepped softly down the stairs of the temple's reception chamber. As I passed, various people who had been praying looked at me. The weight of so many eyes watching me—judging my every move—began to wear me down.

"Just a little more," Milan said. "Once we get outside, you can perform your first Summoning, and show everyone just what kind of Summoner you'll be." I nodded, and he went before me to open the doors.

Stepping into the bright, island sunlight helped me feel stronger. Being in that fresh, airy atmosphere was a much-needed change from the dark, somber ambiance that the temple seemed to enforce. Before me was the Summoner's Circle, a great metal ring which all Summoner's performed their first Summoning in. I had heard stories from elders that before Sin, the Summoner's Circle had been the base of a mighty mechanized tower that had been used to predict the weather. Sin had toppled the symbol of our achievement... We never dared to rebuild it.

Stepping into the ring, a crowd gathered around me. Everyone I knew and loved was there; young children that I had played games with, elders who had told me stories... all there to see me begin my journey. I couldn't hold off the first Summoning anymore.

I gathered myself and held my staff close to me, then opened my arms. I felt the rush of wind as a circle of light surrounded me. Not just one circle, though—there were four smaller circles, and all moved around me as lights rose into the air. They conjoined into a single light somewhere in the sky, and from that light burst forth a creature. It had wings like a dragon, but it had feathers, a beak, and talons like a bird.

"Oh!" I said. It looked fierce, but I knew that an Aeon would not hurt its Summoner. "My Lady... I..." I began, but I was interrupted when she nuzzled my hand with her beak. I patted her and rubbed the feathers of her neck. "Thank you." With that, she jumped and retreated into the sky.

"That was amazing!" Milan said, coming over and patting me on the back. "You'll be the next Yunalesca for sure." I smiled and nodded my head, but in truth I was... unsure. I was hesitant to accept such high praise. Not since High Summoner Yunalesca had journeyed wither her husband Lord Zaon had anyone obtained the Final Aeon. Without it, no one had paralleled the feat of defeating Sin. For two hundred and sixty years, the current incarnation of Sin had plagued our world, but now... Now we were growing strong.

"Milan... Elaina," I said. "Hurry and pack so we may leave soon. Sin does not wait- neither shall we." With that, I walked back to my own tent and began to pack my things. Clothing, some minor provisions, bathing essentials, and an empty sphere. The sphere was for... well it was essential for the last part of my journey. As I finished, Milan and Elaina walked in.

"Are you ready?" Elaina asked, tucking an errant lock of chocolate hair back behind her ear. I nodded, and Milan thrust his fist into the air.

"Then let's get moving!" he said. "I can't wait to see the world and travel side-by-side with a Summoner as my charge." I laughed, as did Elaina, and hoisted my satchel onto my shoulder. On cresting the hill outside the village, I looked back.

"This would be a good place for some sort of monument," I said. "Maybe to Yunalesca..." I then made the prayer gesture, and continued onward.

Why the harbor was on the other side of the island, I would never understand, but we made our way through the brush and came to the waterfall area. Two great walls of water came crashing down mere feet away from the two bridges that spanned the short ditches between the crumbling rock spurs jutting out from the waterfalls and the actual paths. Crossing the bridges, we came to the dense jungle area. There was an outpost here, with a rest house built into the side of the rock face. We opted to continue on, but I made sure to wave to Lina, the girl who ran the rest house for people traveling to and from Besaid. Making our way across the sandy shoals of the beach, we approached the boat.

"Woah!" Milan said, looking at the large, mechanical marvel that was our transport from the island of Besaid. "It's huge!" he said. I had to admit myself that it was rather impressive; with the growing taboo on various machines put upon us by the church, such sights were growing rare.

"After you get through picking your jaw up off the beach," Elaina said, "maybe you'd like to get on the boat with us." Milan started to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, ruffling the honey blonde hair before hurrying to catch up. We boarded the ship and took seats on the various metal benches lining the deck of the ship near the railing.

"Sin travels by sea," Elain said offhandedly as the ship lurched forward from the dock. "We should be wary until we reach land again." I nodded. Elaina had always been like a big sister to me since Lonna passed away.

"I wanna watch as we pull up to the continent!" Milan said, and rushed up to the front of the boat. I laughed, and walked up to join him.

"You know," I began, "if Sin were to attack, we'd fall in the ocean and be eaten." Milan snorted in disbelief.

"Yeah, right," he said. "Sin doesn't eat people." I wondered how he could be so sure of that. No one had ever really seen Sin eat, but all things eat. So if Sin didn't eat people... then what did it eat?

"So... you nervous?" Milan said. He didn't look away from the horizon. I joined him in his long gaze out over the waves.

"Just a bit," I said. It was a lie, or course—I was terrified of the road before me. On reaching the mainland, we would pass through Kilika, then Luca. I was nervous about attending the World Blitzball Championship Tournament. I'd never been good in large crowds, and Blitzball still gathered together plenty of spectators, even after the arrival of Sin.

"You shouldn't be afraid to be afraid, you know," Milan said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You're going on a journey to defeat Sin. If you weren't a little scared, you'd be insane."

"I must not be scared when I face Sin," I said. "If I waver, I will fail." As I said this, the ship lurched a bit, and I fell backwards on the deck.

"What was that?" he asked. We started looking around wildly, and Elaina rushed up to us, a mad look in her hazel eyes.

"Sinspawn off the starboard bow!" she said. I rushed to the right side of the ship, Milan and Elaina right behind me.

In the water, a large mass of tentacles and scaly flesh was swimming alongside us. It roared from beneath the foamy waves, and then began to inch closer to the boat again.

"It's going to ram us!" I cried. "Everyone get below deck!" Cries and shouts accompanied a general rushing of people through the door to the main deck. Elaina and Milan remained above with me, and we looked out over the railing and at the approaching fiend.

"We have to lure it further out of the water..." Elaina said. Milan nodded.

"Do we have anything we can throw at it?" he asked. I looked around and saw a pile of blitzballs by a bench—the Besaid blitzball team must have been on the boat on their way to Luca.

"Those," I said. "We can throw them at it and get its attention." Milan nodded, and ran to grab a few. I grabbed a couple as well. Elaina picked up the last one.

"I don't see how these are going to help," Elaina said. I shrugged, and Milan stepped up to the railing.

"Come on, you overgrown squid!" he yelled, and tossed one of the balls at it. It smacked the top of the wriggling hump before splashing into the water. The Sinspawn roared.

"Elaina," I said, "don't you have something up your sleeves for this?" She sighed, reached into one of her pockets, and pulled out a small bottle filled with acid-green liquid.

"I was saving this," she said, before pouring a few rivulets onto one of Milan's blitzballs. It began to spark and sputter with electrical energy, and Milan had to quickly throw it at the monster.

A more pained and angry roar welled up from the monster, and it stopped inching closer to the boat and began to surface. A wide, snarling mouth filled with wicked teeth began snapping at the cresting waves as it thrashed about.

"What was that?" I asked. Elaina smiled.

"The concentrated plasma of a Yellow Flan," she said. "It was a pain to get hold of the whole bottle, so I'd been hoping to save it for the tougher monsters living on the continent."

A sickening tearing accompanied the sight of a tentacle ripping the railing off of the boat. The sinspawn then consumed the metal and roared. I stepped back and gathered myself. We needed an Aeon.

"Valefor..." I sighed, and the lights of her summoning circle surrounded me before four sparks joined each other in the sky. She dove down, clawing at a tentacle returning to grab someone off the deck. The tentacle recoiled, and the sinspawn roared in pain.

"Woah..." Milan said, blinking his big blue eyes. Elaina also had a look of awe on her face. This time- this summoning- was unlike the first one. This was a battle summoning.

"Valefor, please help us!" I cried. She lunged through the air at the monster and swiped at it with her claws. A sickly black blood wept from the scratches as a few pyreflies escaped into the air. It whipped at her with a tentacle, but she was barely fazed.

"Can't Aeons do magic?" Elaina asked. I pondered; no time like the present to find out.

"Please, conjure some Thunder magic!" I cried. Valefor retreated from the fray; gathering together energy from the air itself, a static crackle sounded from her draconic body before a thunderbolt descended from thin air and struck the sinspawn. More pyreflies flew away, and the monster began to retreat.

"Mathys, we're approaching the shore," Elaina said. I nodded, and dismissed Valefor. She flew into the sky and disappeared, as the monster sank into the blue waves and faded from sight.

"That was close..." said Milan. I shook my head.

"It isn't over," I said. "Sinspawn are merely parts of Sin that have fallen off. Sin is nearby." His golden skin almost turned paper white as the blood drained from his face. Elaina looked to the shore.

"Kilika is in danger," she said.


	2. Chapter 2

The ship approached the continent swiftly, and we disembarked at the port in the village of Kilika. From the port, a thin isthmus of sandy beach connected what would have been an island to the mainland. Within the forest on the edges of the peninsula, an old building had been converted into Yevonite temple for the purposes of housing a Fayth.

"This place is so exotic," Elaina said. "I can't wait to stop by the inn and check out all the local hotspots." Milan looked at her.

"This isn't a vacation, y'know…" he said. "We need to get to the mainland fast, especially since we saw Sin so close." I nodded my head. Elaina was quick to point out our mistake.

"We saw a Sinspawn," she said. "While that is evidence for Sin's presence, it does not confirm it." She looked out at the ocean. "You're right, though. We shouldn't linger too long here."

"We need to head East through the forest to the temple," I said. "Then, we trek north to the Isthmus of Baralai, before we hit the mainland." I began walking from the small port to the forest pathway. Elaina followed in tow, with Milan bringing up the rear.

We walked down the path for a few minutes, looking at the strange plants we didn't have on Besaid. There were large flowers and crawling vines, and strange bugs that buzzed from place to place, but there weren't any fiends. It was a nice break from Besaid, where they had managed to take over some of the more off-trail pathways. Obviously the people of Kilika maintained the roads so as to assist those on their pilgrimage, and for that I was thankful. We eventually came to a four-way intersection leading to two other ports to the East and South, as well as the temple in the North. We turned left onto the North path, getting closer to the temple. On the steps, two guards stood watch with their guns at the ready for any fiends they might see.

"A Summoner approaches!" one of them called up the stairs, and other guards posted at various intervals along the stairs relayed the message along until I couldn't hear or see the recipients anymore. I started up the stairway, Milan and Elaina following. Guards saluted me as I passed them- it felt so surreal.

The temple front looked so out of place amongst the vast green of the jungle. The almost sunshine yellow of the stone made my eyes hurt at first. As they adjusted though, I saw that besides the yellow stone there were places where the floor was made of glass, and I could see beneath that a fire was burning. Similarly, there were glass orbs filled with fire set into sconces around the courtyard of the temple. I assumed they were used as lamps during the night.

"Whoah..." Milan said, looking around at the architecture and the people coming and going. "This place is so big! It's nothing like the one in Besaid."

"Not entirely unlike it," Elaina pointed out. "It's still a temple, which means it's still a holy place of worship and contemplation. The fact that it's bigger should not diminish the Besaid Temple in your eyes." Elaina was always so mature about things like that. I had been as impressed with the temple as Milan had.

We walked over the glass that was covering the fire, and I was surprised that it was only slightly warm instead of blisteringly hot. From within, I could hear the sounds of someone arguing before a trio of people came out of the temple. The door had burst open in front of them, and a young, blonde woman stormed out. Two blonde men walked calmly after her. As she passed, I heard her mutter something about "sacrificial lambs". After that, she began talking in some language I didn't understand and vanished down the steps.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"They were Al Bhed…" Milan noted. "They must have been here protesting the Teachings." Elaina and I nodded.

Ever since Sin had first appeared, the Al Bhed had been skeptical of the Church, and protested the pilgrimage that Summoners went on to obtain the Final Aeon. They believed that Sin could be defeated without it. However... none of their efforts to use machines had duplicated the results of Lady Yunalesca's Final Summoning. Still... neither had any of the Summoners who had undergone the pilgrimage. No one believed Sin could be vanquished a second time. I meant to change that.

Walking in, I felt the air inside the temple become even warmer than the jungle air outside. It was balmy, almost like a sauna or a hot spring, and I pulled my sleeves up higher before retying them, and wiped the back of my hand across my forehead, pushing some of my wayward sandy hair out of my face in the process.

"This must be the work of the Fayth..." Milan said, also wiping a hand across his forehead. "How can anyone stand this? It's hotter in here than outside."

In each corner of the room, small bowls of rocks were placed above orbs like the ones outside, and periodically a priest would throw some sort of liquid over them that quickly turned into an aromatic steam. It smelled sort of like cinnamon, except there was also a small hint of something more exotic underneath it.

"This incense…" Elaina said. "It is strange for a temple to use steam instead of smoke… Especially in a place so rife with flames."

"It could be because of all the flames that they use steam," I said. "Think about it- more flames means even more heat. At least this way, they're only transferring the heat instead of making it." Milan walked over to one of the priests attending to the heated stones.

"Excuse me, Father," he said, pointing to the bowl of incense-water, "but what exactly do you put in there?" The priest smiled.

"Well, besides cinnamon grown locally," he began, "we also import some fine tarragon and mint sprigs from Gulg. This is dried, ground up, and added to the holy water. We also add in some rare PaoPao fruits from Andalia." Milan gawked at all the resources that went into making the holy water.

"Doesn't it take a lot of time and energy just to get all that stuff?" he said. "Why waste all that money, labor, and time on making fancy steam water?" The priest laughed.

"It takes less time than you think," he said. "In fact, a little known race from Andalia known as the Hypello transport everything for free. They ride enormous creatures they call shoopufs." He paused for a moment. "I hear they're thinking of offering shoopuf rides across the Andalia River instead of crossing the bridge."

"We'll have to go on one of those shoopuf rides!" I said. "It'll be something I'll remember forever." Elaina smiled, but Milan looked uneasy. I suppose he wasn't quite ready to confront my... duty.

"At any rate, my friends," the priest said, noting Milan's discomfort and changing the subject, "you all must be here to descend through the Cloister and converse with the Fayth." I nodded. "Then please, ascend these stairs and take the elevator down to the Cloister of Trials. Yevon be with you."

With those kind words, we left the priest and went up the stairs as he had instructed. It was a curious thing, the fact that the temples had you go up, only to to go down again. Going through the door, we happened on an elevator, which was new to me. I'd never seen a machine in use in the temples.

"I thought the Church was anti-machinery," I said stepping onto the stone platform. Elaina stepped on after me, followed by Milan.

"It isn't a machine," she said. "It is a normal stone dais, which is levitated up and down by the power of the Fayth." As Elaina said this, a rune glowed beneath our feet and we started to go down.

As we slowly descended into the depths of the temple, I could feel it get even warmer. On reaching the bottom, I could feel an all consuming heat wash over me from the corridor ahead of us. At the other end was a door. Milan wiped his forehead again, and Elaina began to fan herself with her hand.

"I wonder why the Fayth keeps this place so hot," she said.

"It's a Cloister of Trials," I said. "It's meant to be hard, so that unworthy people may not approach the Fayth." Milan rolled his eyes.

"You'd think they'd be more accommodating," he said. "I mean, we are trying to stop Sin and all that good stuff." I shook my head. Opening the door, we entered a room with a small pillar holding a torch and a door made of what looked like a sturdy metal mesh covered in stone towards the center. The rest of the room was barren of helpful features, at least at first glance.

"How do you suppose we get through that?" I asked, pointing at the door. Elaina began searching the room for hidden chambers or secret compartments, rapping her knuckle against the stone wall looking for a hollow space. When her search turned up nothing, she leaned against the wall and sighed.

"It must be like the one back in Besaid," she said. "We'll have to find some of those spheres and use them to proceed." As I looked around the room, Milan spoke up.

"Hey, Mathys," he said, "come look at this thing." I walked over to stand next to him. He'd taken note of the strange torch, which was more like a brazier since the fire was held in a shallow dip in the stone as opposed to held out on a stick. As I looked closer, though, I noticed it wasn't a torch at all! The source of the fire was actually a round orb.

"Milan, you're amazing!" I said, reaching out for the sphere. Elaina and Milan made to stop me from touching it, but as I closed my hand around it, the fire dissipated and I plucked it from the pedestal. "It's so warm... but not at all as hot as I thought it would be." Elaina grumbled and Milan shook his head as I walked back to the door.

There was a small space in the wall next to the door, and as I thought about it, I figured it must be where I was meant to put the sphere. I placed it into the empty area, and from there an orange line of light began to trace its way down the wall and to the door, before the entire doorway went up in flames. The stone melted and evaporated before the metal mesh began to burn like thread. I took the sphere out again, and the flames died away.

"What was that?" Milan said. He went over to the door and looked at what had just recently been metal wire mesh. "It's ash!" he said, and then blew a puff of air at it. It crumbled away, leaving the doorway clear.

"The power of the Fayth is indeed from another world," Elaina said, walking through the door and into the next room.

On entering, we were confronted with yet another chamber, this one without a door. It did, however, have another pedestal with an orb in it. This one, though, blinked with a soft green light every few seconds. There were also three small shelf-like protrusions from the walls- one behind the pedestal, one on the left wall, and one on the right wall. I tried to pick up the green sphere, but the closer my hand got to it, the hotter the one in my other hand got. I had to pull my hand away before I burnt myself. I experimented with it a couple more times before I gave up.

"I think there must be some kind of limit to the orbs I can carry," I said. "This one keeps getting hotter the closer my hand gets to the other one."

"Put it in one of those two shelves and then pick it up," Elaina said. Nodding, I put the orb in the shelf behind the pedestal. Instantly, a plume of flames washed over the wall, revealing a strange glyph.

"Whoa," Milan said, touching the scorch mark glyph. I removed the sphere from the shelf and put it in the other one, to see if the same thing would happen. It once again lit up like a torch, but nothing special happened. Shrugging, I picked up the green sphere and put it into the slot beneath the glyph. Nothing appeared to happen, so I placed it in the only space left- the shelf on the left wall. Nothing happened immediately, but as I went to pick up the orb again, Milan touched the scorched glyph. A part of it glowed, making a sort of up arrow, and then the wall slid upwards, allowing us further passage into the Cloister.

"This is so cool!" Milan said, walking into the next chamber. It was almost unbearably hot in there, as a towering wall of flames separated us from the other half of the room. "This is like some of the books I've read." Elaina shook her head and sighed.

"Only you would compare a sacred place like this to a location in one of your fantasy books," she said. On a small ledge near the wall of fire, a small glyph inlaid into the floor blinked with a strange beacon light. I went over to it and bent down, barely brushing it with my fingertips, when the beacon flashed brightly for a couple of seconds. When it stopped, the pedestal from the other room had reappeared in this room.

"How did that happen?" I asked.

"It was the Fayth's doing, no doubt," Elaina offered. I gave her a skeptical look.

"I think you're giving the Fayth too much credit," I said. The fire barring our way flared a little at that. I looked at Elaina. "Don't let that undermine what I just said." She laughed a bit, and then pointed at the wall next to the floor sigil.

"There are quite a few orbs here," she said. Arranged in a triangle shape were three orange spheres, and below those was another one. "Perhaps you should see what replacing the bottom one does." I nodded, and took it out. Removing it did not cause the wall of flames to rage any less, so I placed the orb in the pedestal and returned to the other room.

"Maybe I need this one," I called, grabbing the green one and running back into the room. Slotting it into the wall, I stepped back when it began to move upward. Inside was a kind of alcove with a single stone shelf and a curious purple orb. It felt... wrong for some reason. I turned away from it, instead returning to the pedestal. When I exited, I saw that the wall of fire had died down. As I was about to cross over to the other side, Milan spoke up.

"Is it just me," he said, "or does it look like this thing matches up with that sign over there?" I looked from the base of the pedestal to the sigil on the floor. Milan had a point.

"Help me move it," I said, grabbing one side and pushing. Milan grabbed the other side and began to pull, and the pedestal slowly ground across the floor. As we got it near the sign, the easier it became to push the pedestal, which made everything move a lot faster after a bit. Finally, it slid onto the sigil and both Milan and I jumped back as the floor jerked before slowly descending.

"All these tricks and smoke-and-mirror type mechanisms," Milan said. "I just want to have something straightforward happen."

I reached the foot of the steps and turned, seeing that there was yet another orange sphere embedded in the wall. I pulled it from the wall and looked for another place to put it. I saw another set of steps.

"Nothing's ever on the same level, either," I noted. "Always some set of stairs or an elevator or something..." I went up, and Elaina and Milan quickly followed suit. The last slot for an orb was beside the blocked door before me. At least, I hoped it was the last. Sliding in the orb, the door burst into flames just like the last one, and just like the last one it extinguished when I took the orb back out. I handed it to Milan who put it back in the wall where I'd found it, and together we continued into the Vestibule of the Fayth.

"We'll be waiting," Elaina said, rubbing my shoulder comfortingly before I passed through the doorway into the Fayth's Chamber.

Once I was inside, I was hit by the warmest wave of air I'd ever felt. I was almost sure that I was roasting alive. Beyond the heat, though, I could feel the true power of the Fayth. I listened for the Hymn, the confirmation that the Fayth was going to commune with me.

Seyuega

Kamebonma

Itojutte

Nouwai

Tsumareru

Yorewa

Sare

I knelt on the burning stone and bent forward, touching my forehead to the glass covering the Fayth. It felt like it was molten, and for all I know it was. A sudden change in the air in the room alerted me to the presence of the Fayth.

"You have surmounted the trials of the Cloister," said a deep voice from in front of me. I looked up, and before me was a man clad in armor. He looked like he had been in a war of some kind, as he had a face that looked hardened by battle.

"I have come to ask for your help," I said. "I need your help... if I am to defeat Sin." A sad look passed through his eyes, but his face didn't change.

"Summoner," he said, "you have my power." With that, he passed through me and the world turned white for a moment. When everything returned to normal, the first thing that I realized was that it was no longer overbearingly hot in the chamber. It felt like an underground room should- cool, if not just a tad stale in terms of air.

Walking out, I spotted Elaina sitting down reading a book while Milan twirled a ball on his finger. Elaina spotted me first, and stood quickly to come meet me.

"Well?" she asked. "How did it go?" Her eyes quickly darted to my forehead. "Running chocobos, Mathys! You've been burned!" She began to root around in her pockets for something as Milan came over and clapped me on my shoulder.

"What did you do, fight the Fayth?" he asked. Elaina pulled out a container with some cream in it and began to rub it on my forehead. A cool, tingling sensation began to spread through the skin where she'd rubbed it.

"No, nothing like that," I said. "It was just incredibly warm in there... I was afraid I might succumb to heat exhaustion." I smiled. "More importantly though, is that the Fayth agreed to assist me. I'm one step closer to my goal." As Elaina smiled and Milan laughed and clapped me on the back, the floor beneath my feet quaked. A loaned crash echoed from outside the temple.

"What's going on?" I asked. Elaina looked to Milan, who looked to me, which did no good because I had no answers. As we ran out from the Cloister, a wild-eyed priest came from one of the rooms in the temple.

"It's Sin!"


	3. Chapter 3

I gaped at the priest for a second, and then it came to me: the battle on the boat! It had been a Sinspawn, but I had completely forgotten about the proximity to Kilika. I had forgotten the eminent danger that it had posed. I tightened my grip on my staff before rushing down the steps, running as quickly as I could manage through the forest. People trickled through the brush as they fled from Sin.

It was to the North, beyond the temple and probably close to the sandy isthmus that people used to get between Kilika and Luca. I broke through the tree line and onto the northern beach, but what I saw made me stop. Sin was hovering above the surface of the water, encapsulated in a sphere of rippling water, which prevented me from getting a good look at it. Though Sin itself was not on the offensive, many small fiends seemed to be spawning from within the sphere of water. They were on the move, attacking people in droves and overwhelming people through sheer numbers. Elaina broke through just behind me, and Milan not too far behind right after her. He shook me out of my stupor, and I ran towards the sand bridge. The creatures attacking people looked like birds, maybe, but dark and twisted. They were scaly as opposed to downy like actual birds, and Milan pointed at them.

"What are those things?" he yelled. I thought for a moment. Like small birds, but truly Sinspawn…

"We'll call them 'Sinsparrows'," I said. Milan looked at me for a moment, and then nodded. He looked around, seeking a weapon of some sort. He was only really trained as a blitzball player, but without a ball, I knew he'd be out of his element. He grabbed a fallen soldier's gun from nearby and gave it a disapproving grimace.

"I hate guns…" he said, and Elaina cracked a rueful smile in spite of the moment. She pulled out vials and bottles and other assorted containers filled with liquids and powders of questionable colors. I never understood how she got into being a chemist…

"We need to help these people get to safety," I said. "Anything else is secondary." Elaina and Milan nodded, and started off, breaking through the Sinsparrow flocks by utilizing the element of surprise. As Elaina had to mix up her offensive materials before she could actually use them, Milan had to cover her, diving for a new gun whenever his current one ran out of ammunition. The pair of them were clearing the beach quite handily, and so I decided to enter the fray, but not alone. "No time like the present to test drive the new Aeon..."

A pair of Sinsparrows noticed I was alone and not moving. As they descended on me, a circle of flame rose around me, and I saw the seal from Kilika Temple burnt into the ground at my feet. Squatting down, I touched it, and it glowed for a split second before the ground bubbled out beneath me, my feet shakily placed on the apex. As I felt I was about to fall, the ground shattered and I found myself falling through the air. I was about to cry out when I felt a warm, strong pair of arms encircle me. As my savior landed on the ground, I was set gently back onto the sand. Before me, Ifrit looked terrifying- almost like a demon- and he roared like a beast from Hell. As he roared, I could feel on my forehead where I had burnt myself. Ifrit turned to me, awaiting my command.

"We need to help these people!" I cried, and he nodded, lunging forward. Obsidian claws ripped through scaly blue flesh like sickles as Ifrit carved a path through the swarms of Sinsparrows. I followed, casting healing spells on the people I could heal, and briefly stopping to offer my prayers for those I could not. Ifrit was cutting down enemies left and right, and many people shouted their thanks as they ran towards the jungle near the shore. I cheered as I saw we had almost cleared off half the pathway, when I realized that Sin had been edging closer and closer to the sandy path.

My eyes went wide as it dawned on me that no more Sinsparrows were being produced. That meant only one thing: Sin was readying for an attack. Ember-speckled haze misted from Ifrit's mouth as it panted in exhaustion from the exertion of clearing the way, but he too seemed to pick up on this new turn of events. He roared, and then scooped me up, throwing me over his shoulder as he galloped to the shore. In that position, I could see that people still on the sand were no longer running. They had stopped, cemented to the spot with awe and fear. I felt my mouth move, felt myself shout, but I couldn't hear myself. Heads turned, eyes went wide… but it was too late.

There was a horrible cracking noise, as though the bones of the earth itself were breaking. The ground, the sea- even the air it seemed- all of it was sinking into a pit that was being pressed into the world. Someone screamed, and I could see some poor soul crumble under the pressure of the invisible gravity well. Sin positioned itself directly over the huge wound it was making, and began to lower itself in, widening the pit as it descended. As the roiling sphere of water became half-sunken, everything seemed to release. Water crashed into the void, and a a great thunderclap sounded as two tsunamis met, and under the water, Sin roared its triumph. As the ocean concealed the destruction, people began to step out onto the shore once again. Ifrit set me down, a sad, low keening sound escaping his maw before I dismissed him, and he was gone in a cloud of wispy pyreflies. It was that last little bit that brought reality crashing down on me like the waves had crashed down on themselves.

I fell to my knees, a wail of pain and agony ripping itself from my chest as I grabbed at my head, digging my fingers into my ragged sandy hair as though the external pain might save me from the internal torture. People wept silently, some looking out to sea, some looking at me and shaking their head. I felt someone embrace me, and I saw Elaina, kneeling down onto the sand. Her eyes, usually hazel and somewhat critical, were jade and soft and sorrowful. Milan stood a ways off, his fists clenched and his cheeks stained with tears. Elaina dried my cheeks a couple times in a vain effort to comfort me, but I shook my head and stood.

Grabbing my staff from where it fell, I stepped up to the water's edge and let my feelings flow through me and into the air, into the water, into the earth- my sorrow, my fury, and all my anguish- and I felt drained for the slightest of moments. I had been trained in all the arts of the Summoner, including the most important and sacred rite- the Sending. I needed to do this now, before any of the angry dead had a chance to become fiends. I stepped out onto the water's surface, and people started looking at me, and as I walked out further, they began to point and stare.

I felt them, their eyes on me- the weight of their pain added to my own, and yet I just let it flow through me. Turbulent water stilled beneath my feet as I walked out, further and further, each step closer to the epicenter of the disaster. As I got near, I began to see bodies floating to the surface of the water, somewhat broken looking and all with varied expressions of horror trapped on their faces. I reached the origin of all this carnage- I didn't know for sure, but I just had an overwhelming feeling that I was there. Raising my arms from where they had settled, open to either side of me and now raised to embrace the wounded planet, I gripped my staff tightly before spinning around, making a circle around me with my staff. As I did so, my mouth opened, and I began to sing.

"Seyuega kamebonma…" I could faintly hear tremors in my voice, and for a mad moment I entertained though more than one person was singing. On the shore, people began to raise their voices to join mine. "Itojutte nouwai…" I spun again, the water around me began to spin too. A few pyreflies began to float away from the people in the water, and I grabbed the opposite end of my staff with my other hand. I slowly rolled it over my body without touching it, raising it over my head before returning it to my front.

"Tsumareru…" I spun again, but in the opposite way, and again, and again, and I became aware that the water was spinning beneath me, slowly rising like a geyser. Now the air was thick with pyreflies, their prismatic lights painting the world a bright rainbow of colors, as if they were trying to hide the tragedy that had occurred. I continued to twirl and my staff continued to trace halos about me as I danced so that the dead could depart in peace. Boats of people rowed out to get closer, some armed against the chance that Sin would return, some full of people singing the Hymn along with me. As I slowed, I began to sink closer to the surface of the sea.

"Yorewa sare…" I finished, my feet returning to to inky black sea that had raised me up. Elaina and Milan called to me from a boat, but their voices sounded so much more distant, and as I stepped toward them, I felt my foot sink into the water before it rushed up over me. I didn't have the strength to swim, so I let myself limply float to the surface, the waves rocking me gently for a couple minutes before I felt four hands latch onto me and pluck me from the water. Elaina took a clothe to my face as Milan tried to get me to speak. It took me all of my energy, but I finally managed to mutter one sentence, in the hopes of silencing Milan.

"Forgive me… people of Kilika…" Then all was black.


	4. Chapter 4

Blinking my eyes slowly, attempting to clear the blurred images from my vision, I sat up. I immediately grabbed both sides of my throbbing head, and groaned a bit, when I felt to sets of hands on my back. Opening my eyes again, Milan and Elaina were on either side of me, and I was sitting on a simple cloth cot in a small dwelling near the beach on the opposite side of the island. I guessed that they must have brought me here so that I wouldn't see the area where Sin had... I groaned again, another blunt throb pulsing through my temples. Elaina held up a cup full of some liquid that looked and smelled foul. I shook my head.

"Come on," she said gently, pressing the lip of the cup to my own lips. "It will help you with your headache." Grimacing, I opened my mouth reluctantly as she tipped the bottom upwards. Milan did me the courtesy of pinching my nose in order to dull the flavor, but even then it was still nowhere near desirable. I almost retched on tasting it, and only Elaina's swift upending of the cup allowed me to get all of it down. A second cup was put in front of me, this one full of water, and I gulped it down as if I'd been lost in a desert. The ache behind my eyes seemed to be sluggishly ebbing away, and I allowed myself to let go of my head. It was at that moment that I noticed we were not the only ones in the room.

"It is good to see you wake, my lord," the captain of our skiff said, making the prayer gesture. I returned it as best I could from my seated position, and he smiled. "I know you are not feeling well, sir, but we must prepare to move on. I think, in lieu of recent events, we should delay a trip to Luca in favor of visiting the temple at Baaj." He handed me a map with our new route marked out in red ink. "From there, we can travel to Bikanel Island and visit Gulg, before approaching Luca from the West, as opposed to the South." I nodded, but Elaina spoke up.

"Is it wise to visit Gulg Temple?" she asked. "With the Al Bhed becoming more restless about the Pilgrimage, I was under the impression that the Church had made its visitation optional." The captain nodded.

"That is true, ma'am," he said. "However, with circumstances being what they are, I would prefer to approach the mainland from as far North as possible without straying into the Zanarkand Sea." Elaina bit her lip, but nodded. Milan put an arm around my shoulders and jerked a thumb at himself.

"Come on, El," he said. "Don't sweat it! After what we just went through, we can't let something as little as Al Bhed dissent stop us from seeing a temple." I nodded, but unlike Milan I could not seem to force the corners of my mouth up.

"It is true," I said. "And now it is even more imperative that I make an appearance at Gulg Temple. The people need to see that Sin will not scare us- will not scare me." With that, I turned to the captain. "How soon will you be ready to make weigh, captain?"

"I shouldn't need more than, say, four hours," he said. "Most of that is just patching a couple small holes those birds made in the hull, but we'll be loading on some supplies as well. If you need to restock personal supplies, I'd suggest you do it while you can. Baaj is a full day's sailing from here, and that's if the wind favors us." I nodded my assent, and moved to stand up. When I wobbled unsteadily, Milan held out his arms in case he needed to catch me, but I shook my head and started walking. Before I left the dwelling, I made sure to straighten my clothes and hold my head high, and a smile now found its way on to my face quite easily. Perhaps because now, I was not smiling for myself, but for all the people of Kilika, and Spira.

Once outside, people flocked to me, asking about how I felt and if I was fit to be walking and telling me that I should continue resting. They fretted and worried over me as they nursed bandaged wounds or dug graves for their loved ones and neighbors. I continued to smile, though, and told them I was fine, even though I was far from it. Physically, I was fine, but it wounded me deeply, the sight of these people's' losses. I started to go around and offer what little healing I could with the White magics that I knew. The majority of the injured people were either elderly or very young, and I worked for as long as I could until I found that I could no longer cast spells. When I did finally stop to rest, people rushed to bring me food and water, which I declined politely. The only thing I ingested was a small vial of something that seemed vaguely airy, something Elaina called "Ether", and then I returned to assisting the injured. I ended up taking another three doses of Ether before the skiff captain came to collect us.

"My lord," he said, "it is time for us to leave now. If we do not hurry, we risk spending two nights on the open ocean instead of one." I nodded, and made my way to the vessel. As I reached the top of the gangplank, I turned around and offer the people of Kilika the prayer gesture. Every single person returned it, and I had to turn away from them quickly so that I did not cry. Elaina ushered me down into one of the cabins to rest, while Milan and the captain began to weigh the anchor. Somewhere, the engine started up, and I felt the boat lurch forward and off on its course to Baaj Temple, with me praying silently that we wouldn't meet any trouble along the way.

* * *

><p>I would never believe it of myself if it had not been explicitly told to me, but on waking the next day from my rest, Elaina informed me that I had slept through both the morning and the afternoon, and it was now early evening. Baaj was mere minutes away, a sizeable smudge on the horizon, from my vantage point on the deck. Thankfully, we had run into no more turbulence. Elaina had managed to prepare an array of alchemical solutions to any fiend-related problems we might encounter, while Milan had been busy practicing with a sword and shield that a family in Kilika had given him. The fight with Sin had made him feel weak, he told me shortly after boarding the ship. He was grateful for an opportunity to train with an actual weapon. I wandered over to the railing, leaning over and watching the navy blue slip away into the horizon.<p>

"Are you feeling any better?" Elaina asked, taking a spot next to me and looking out over the seemingly endless sea. I nodded.

"Yes, I feel better," I answered. Elaina didn't reply- she was waiting for me to continue, and eventually I obliged her. "All right, I confess... I have not felt at ease since the events in Kilika." Elaina nodded. "I just... I feel like I failed, Elaina. I failed all those innocent people." One of her arms wound around my shoulders, while the other gently rubbed my arm.

"You did as well as any Summoner in your place could have," she said. "You have only visited two temples, Mathys. What did you expect to do, slay the beast that makes other Summoners soil themselves when they see it?" Milan wandered over to us now, stretching his arms.

"He beatin' himself up, Lai?" he asked. She nodded, and retracted her arm in time to avoid Milan's closed fist as it gently struck my arm. "Hey, stop thinking like that, Mat. If you keep worrying about what could've gone better or how you messed up, you'll never be able to finish your journey." I nod, but continue looking down at the water.

Keep moving forward... Finish my Pilgrimage. Only then will I be able to get justice for those who died.

The rest of the journey to Baaj was relatively uneventful. I did manage to gawk when I saw the famous Rising Falls of Baaj, though. The Aeon of Baaj Temple was apparently responsible for them, much like the deep, thick ice covering Lake Macalania. It actually forced the priests of the temple to commission a large way station that was held aloft on pillars and lead from the open ocean to the first floor of the temple, the ground floor having been built before the island itself had sank below the surface of the water. I let my mouth hang open a little as we finished our approach.

"Hey, Mat, we're finally here!" Milan called, running across the deck to the gangplank. Elaina followed, her easy stride much less enthusiastic. She shook her head as she stepped off the skiff.

"Honestly, Milan, you get excited about everything on this journey!" she said. "Save some for Zanarkand... when we'll actually need it." She faltered for a second, but then resumed her walk to the temple. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. She was still having trouble with the... inevitable result of our journey.

Stepping onto the stone archways which formed the path from the way station to the temple's upper floors, I watched below as the various priests and nuns who called Baaj Temple their home began to scurry into the towers which I assumed housed stairwells leading up onto the pathways, as there were several branching arches that seemed to connect to what I had assumed were pillars. On making my way into the temple proper, a tall, silver-haired nun with a strangely greened complexion greeted me. Her hair seemed to stick out at odd angles, stiff and rigid like thorns. She bowed, and made the prayer gesture to us, which we returned.

"Welcome to Baaj, m'lord Summoner," she said. Her voice was rich and a little slow sounding, and she seemed to smell of the forests of Besaid, though slightly off. She smiled, probably noticing my analysis of her presence. "I see you have not met a Guado before, and I can almost assure you that you will not meet one for some time after you leave here. I am Iifanoki Guado, at your service." I bowed, and Milan and Elaina followed suit.

"I am Mathys, on my way from Besaid," I told her. "These are my Guardians, Elaina and Milan. We are humbled by your gracious welcome. The temple is so immaculate, even considering the sinking of the island three years ago." Iifanoki laughed a bit at this.

"Indeed," she said, "Baaj Temple was originally a great palace of Guado design, much like the House of Lords in my homeland. It is sturdy, and meant to endure for many generations. Of course, the Guado who built it did not remain. We found that the sea is a place for people like you or the Al Bhed, and our roots could find no hold among her cerulean waves." She then turned, gazing up at what I assumed was the entrance to the Cloister of Trials. She must have guessed what I had assumed, for she then turned around to look at us once more.

"May we proceed to the Cloister, my lady?" Elaina asked. The Guado woman shook her head.

"I am afraid that we do not have a Cloister of Trials here in Baaj Temple, young lady," she said. "The architectural style used in Guado buildings does not allow for the contrived glyphs of power that the Church uses in their operation. Rather, there are several sconces in the antechamber. As the temple's Fayth holds back the very ocean with its inner strength, so too must the sconces be lit with something within you that is indestructible." She paused for a moment, gazing into my eyes and, to me it seemed, my soul. "Though what within you could equal the Fayth's indomitable spirit, I cannot say, nor is it for me to know." With this, she stepped to the side and the door opened. "Now, go to meet your fate, young lord."

We tromped up the steps quickly, then just as quickly descended the spiral staircase beyond the door, which closed behind us. The air down there was chilled slightly, though, I could feel that beyond it was even colder. Perhaps it was the effect of the water leeching warmth from the air, or that we were below the natural sea level. Whatever it was, I could almost feel it sapping the strength from my limbs as we walked into the corridor beyond. The room we found ourselves in was large. Five large braziers, still looking new and shiny, sat at equidistant points on a circle that was engraved in the floor. Within the circle was the glyph for Yevon. In front of the braziers were each a glyph- two of them I recognized as the glyphs from Besaid and Kilika Temple. I thought for a moment.

"I thought that Iifanoki said that Guado architecture interfered with glyphs," I said. Elaina and Milan nodded, and my eyebrows knit together. "Then why take the time to engrave them if they can't work properly?" Milan shrugged.

"Maybe to give the place the look of a temple, even if it doesn't work like one?" he said. I put my thumb and index finger to my chin in thought. What purpose was there to falsifying a Cloister set up if you were going to tell everyone beforehand that the architecture rendered it useless?

"Perhaps when converting it into a temple," I said, "they did not know the building style would inhibit the glyphs?" Elaina shook her head.

"No, that couldn't be," she explained. "We've known since before Yevonism that Guado building styles render most hieroglyphics inoperable..." She sat down on the floor, and Milan went over to lean on a wall. We were all having trouble staying on our feet, and I was resisting the urge to sit down myself. I was starting to feel so weak... How could cool air be having such an effect on us? My eyes widened as it hit me. Elaina gasped, and I guessed she had come to the same conclusion.

"Of course!" I exclaimed. "I see it now! Dress up a place to look like a temple, even fabricate a Cloister of Trials, just so that the Summoner and their Guardians will-"

"Will spend hours and hours in a room that is slowly draining their strength," came a familiar voice. Whipping around, I was just in time to see Iifanoki Guado descending the steps from above. "All this so that, by the time they do figure it out, they will be too weak to effectively summon their Aeons or, for the Guardians, defend the Summoner. You're very clever, my lord. I did not expect you to get it so quickly." She wasn't smiling now. "Still, now we come to the true Trial of Baaj Temple. You and I shall face each other in a Contest of Aeons. If you can defeat me, then these beacons shall alight and you may proceed, and speak with the Fayth."

With that, she drew out a long, dark wooden staff carved so that it appeared that a giant serpent was wrapped around it. Twirling it about her, she flicked the end into the air and flower petals scattered into a sudden wind. There were so many petals, in fact that, I could not see what was behind them. When the flowery curtain subsided, I saw a vaguely humanoid figure seated behind the Guado woman, hands on its lap and a dog laying patiently beside it. For the first time since she had arrived in the dark, cold room, Iifanoki smiled.

"Arise, Yojimbo!" she shouted. The figure drew out a long katana from a red scabbard, while the dog stretched and ran in front of the Guado, followed shortly by the Aeon. "Now shall you contend with the true force of Baaj, young Summoner. If you cannot defeat me here and now, then I suggest you go home to play hero- the Summoner's Journey is no place for children!"

With little time allotted to me, I quickly called out to Valefor, the first Aeon who came to mind. The starlights used to summon her lit the room, and in a rush of wind she was upon us. The two spirits regarded each other with something akin to familiarity, but then my lady was away. Flying as high as she could, she let fly a ball of fire. Though it was on course to strike the Aeon, at the last second the dog-like spirit jumped to take the attack for its master. The Guado Summoner laughed as the dog shook its head free of embers.

"Daigoro, faithful companion to Yojimbo, is the shield which safeguards both the Aeon and his Summoner," she said. "Until you manage to wear him down, no attack will be able to bypass his vigilant watch." I gritted my teeth. How was I supposed to win this contest if she was, in essence, using two Fayth? Valefor seemed to pick up on my dilemma, because her next move was to swoop in and attempt to claw the dog. Though she got in a good strike, Yojimbo was quick to seize upon her focus. It produced a throwing knife and quickly found it a home in Valefor's side, which forced a swift retreat. Daigoro, licking his new wound, growled at the feathered dragoness.

"My lady!" I called out, pouring out all my hope and determination to her through the link we shared. "Please, we must not fail." She seemed to not only understand, but be filled with a second wave of energy. Tossing her head around, a bright circle of glyphs appeared in the air. Energy poured from her mouth into the glyphs, which then began to rotate and fire shots of magic at the two opposing aeons. When the attack finished, neither looked very well. Then again, Valefor looked incredibly drained as well. For a moment, neither she nor the duo took any action, each panting and heaving heavy breaths. As the spirit-dog looked to be rising for his strike, Yojimbo held out a hand to stay the attack. Shaking its head, the Aeon stepped forward, blade held forward. With a rush of wind, the dragoness took a swipe at the swordsman. He fell forward onto his knees, and then began to fade away in pyreflies. Another quick strike, and his faithful companion began to follow. Beyond the pale and fleeting rainbows, Iifanoki Guado seemed awestruck at her defeat. Recovering herself, she bowed before me- not the ritualized bowing of the prayer gesture, but a true and reverent bow. Such a thing is taught to be unbecoming of a Summoner, even moreso when they bow to a fellow Summoner.

"You have succeeded, young Summoner," she said, "where many who are your elder have failed." At once, all of the sconces were alight with dazzling flames. "Proceed, and speak with the Fayth. You have proven your power."

As she turned to ascend the steps and return to the floor above, I called out to her. "Please, a moment, Lady Guado." She turned her head over her shoulder, an expectant look on her. "I must know... Why did you bow to me, when Yevon teaches us that a Summoner bowing does injustice upon their office as the Hope of Spira?" She smiled, and resumed the climb, calling back to me.

"Yevon never knew about you."

As her robe retreated beyond my sight, I turned, to ponder her words as the chamber of the Fayth opened to greet me. I entered, and it surprised me to find many young trees were growing, roots digging into the floor and branches framing the Fayth in the middle of the room. The smell, when it came upon me, gave up the trees as cherry trees, all in a state of blooming. Kneeling before the Fayth, I made the prayer gesture, and waited. I didn't have to wait long, the Fayth and his loyal companion manifesting before me like phantasms. A warrior and a dog...

"Mine is the blade of honorable fury. Evil fears the mere whisper of my name- Yojimbo." He gave me a stern once over, before nodding curtly. "You seem adequate. I shall aid you henceforth, and guard you along your journey. Together, we shall attempt to outrun this waking nightmare." The room became bright, and I felt a great pressure for the briefest of moments, and then all was as it was before.


End file.
